


ah, kids

by ChickenXD



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: M/M, Teenage Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 10:52:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11645076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChickenXD/pseuds/ChickenXD
Summary: Everytime Briar and Hazel fight with Craig they always go to dad's house, but this time there's something deeper in the problem they're arguing about.





	ah, kids

“Coming up tonight, on Iron Chef America!”

I slide onto my couch with my bag of popcorn right as they start showing montages of the competitors cooking and serving up… really good looking food. Definitely better than the sandwich I usually make for myself.

“It’s a special edition tonight, where the iron chefs are going to compete against each other in the kitchen stadium!”

Man, it sure is ironic that I’m watching all these people cook really good food, while I’m sitting here with my bag of microwaved kettle corn. I mean, I can bake a little, but the second I try to do anything fancy, I either don’t have the equipment or I set off every fire alarm in the house.

It’s Morimoto against Symon. Damn, I don’t know who to root for…what’s the secret ingredient?

The chairman stands behind the big wooden box proudly, with the two chefs next to him. And the secret ingredient is…

I hear the house doorbell ring, but damn, this is too exciting to pass up! I want to see it!

It’s lobster. Oh man, now I really don’t know who to root for.

The doorbell rings again, so I lower the volume and go answer the door.

 

“Yeah?”

Two girls who look exactly alike are standing outside… Briar and Hazel. They’re still wearing their school uniforms and carrying their bags, and it’s apparent that one of them is crying. Damn, I can never tell who is who until they start talking.

“Oh, it’s you girls.”

“Can we stay here for the night?”

I sigh, “What, you guys fought with your dad again?”

“It’s just Hazel. I’m here in solidarity.”

Well, this isn’t the first time. I’ve become some kind of… bro-dad hybrid to them, and Amanda’s room is pretty much their second home.

I just open the door wider, and they walk into the house and onto the couch. Briar turns off the TV but starts eating my popcorn, but Hazel just sat there quietly, hugging her knees. I take out my phone and quickly text Craig.

“Yo dude, your kids are here.”

“Are you texting dad?”

“What? No?” I reply as casually as I can. “I was going out with Robert, but I guess I can’t now that you guys are here.”

“We don’t mind if you go out, though. We’re just here so dad stops lecturing Hazel.”

I just sigh. This definitely isn’t the first time the two of them have ended up here to avoid Craig, but every time Craig comes to pick them up to go to school in the morning he always looks remorseful as hell and that’s hard to look at. But then again these girls are in their teenage angst years, and back when Amanda was their age she used to lock herself in her room and sneak out all the time too.

“Where have you guys been?”

“School,” Briar replied, “Then we went home, dad got angry at Hazel, so we left to the beach and then came here.”

“So I’m guessing you haven’t had dinner?”

They both shake their head. It’s around 8 PM now…

My phone buzzes – it’s Craig calling. I pick it up–

“Hey, Robert!”

“Bro, are they okay? They haven’t picked up my calls for hours!”

“Yeah, you know…” I glance at them to make sure they don’t know I’m bluffing, “The kids came over… you wanna come over too? Try to talk it out with them? I mean, you could talk it out with Val, right?”

The two of them shakes their head vigorously. I guess if they’re not willing to listen to Craig, they won’t be willing to listen from anyone else either.

“Is Hazel still crying? I might have been too harsh on her…”

“No, no, it’s cool. Sorry I can’t make it tonight. You wanna go to the beach tomorrow?”

“They went to the beach?” I hear Craig’s sigh, “Well, I see. I’ll come over later tonight or tomorrow to get them.”

“Sure, sure, that’ll be fun. Thanks, Robert.”

I turn off the phone and turn back to them. Briar’s still eating popcorn while Hazel’s looking at her phone.

“Please don’t kick us out.”

“Okay,” I sigh, “You guys need to eat, still.”

“We ordered pizza just now when you were on the phone.”

Damn, these girls are too good.

 

Briar turns on the TV again, and starts to switch to another channel. Damn, guess I won’t get to watch Iron Chef tonight.

“Don’t you guys have homework to do or something?”

“We did it while we were at the beach.”

Okay then.

“So what did you guys fight about this time?”

Briar turns to look at Hazel, who clearly seems more upset. She brushes away her hair from her face, then sighs as she shook her head.

“Dad’s angry that I’m not doing well in school,” she replied, “I’m supposed to get in an advanced class next year, but my scores fell this semester so I can’t do it. So he wants me to quit the lacrosse team, because he said it’s taking too much time…”

“Yeah! And lacrosse won’t be fun without Hazel!”

Man, when we were in college, Craig’s standard was getting no less than a 2.8, and he switched majors four times, but now he’s pushing his kids… I guess he’s been pretty busy himself, juggling his work and family, so he’s having higher expectations.

“School is indeed more important than lacrosse.”

“But like, he didn’t need to be such a jerk about not getting into an advanced class.”

“I… I guess it’s a pretty important class,” Hazel remarked, “Especially if I’m going to a private school…”

“Hazel, there’s always next year! Stop overworking yourself!”

I hear the doorbell ring. Must be the pizza man. I quickly open the door–

“But you do well in all your classes…”

“That’s because I do my homework when you’re meeting up with Lucien behind the bleachers!”

I almost have a stroke when I see it’s Craig delivering the pizza, in combination to what Briar just said. Craig must have heard it too, since he suddenly turned pale.

“Shh!!” Hazel slaps Briar’s arm, “Don’t say it so loud!”

Now I see that Craig’s face is turning red with anger. Oh no, oh no, I can’t let him storm into the house right now.

I quietly take the pizza box away from him and close the door.

“Uhh… girls, your pizza’s here, wanna eat?”

They look at me, as if suddenly realizing that I’ve been hearing their whole conversation, and I see Hazel’s face turn bright red with embarrassment. Briar quickly wraps her arms around her shoulders protectively.

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna tell Craig… or Damien…”

“You totally are gonna snitch, dude.”

Uhh…

“Lucien is a lot older than you guys though… I mean, I wouldn’t suggest–”

“Did we ask for your opinion?”

I just smile nervously as I place my pizza on the coffee table in front of them and back away. Briar watches as I slowly back away to the front door – I grab my keys and quickly leave.

 

I immediately see that Craig is on his way to Damien’s house, which is… honestly just across the street.

“Bro!” I run to him, “Bro, chill out. It’s not Damien’s fault.”

“His son is fucking selling them drugs!”

“No, no, no, listen,” I said, grabbing his arm to slow him down, “The one time Mat and I tried to get weed from him he sold us oregano.”

I see Craig trying hold back his laughter, despite his anger.

“It’s true!” I said, “And how do you know he’s selling them drugs anyway?”

“Then they’re dating!”

“...sure, maybe.”

“This is exactly what I trained for, bro! For the day someone crosses my daughters so I can crush their skull with my thighs!”

We arrive in front of Damien’s house, and Craig just starts knocking… or banging on the door.

“Lucien! Come out, you asshole!”

“Craig! Bro, chill!”

The door opens after a few seconds, and Damien steps out, looking confused.

“Excuse me, I do not allow for such vulgar language,” he said, looking directly at Craig – “Especially not directed towards my dear son.”

“What’s… what’s he doing with my girls?”

Damien seems surprised, too. “Your girls? Have they engaged in any inappropriate conduct that I am not aware of?”

“Well, I think so!”

Oh god, this can turn ugly real soon. Damien must be sensing this too, since he just sighs and shakes his head.

“Lucien!” he called, “Darling, will you come here and explain yourself?”

Lucien comes out of his room and sighs as he looks at the three of us. I hope I won’t have to physically restrain Craig from beating him up...

“What, dad, I’m busy.”

“Come here, dear,” he said as Lucien walks to him, and Damien wrapped his arm around his son’s shoulder.

“What did I tell you about gentlemanly conduct, dear?”

“Treat a girl with respect, right?”

“So, have you been meeting with Ms. Cahn secretly?”

“It’s not in secret,” Lucien said, “We just meet after school. What’s so wrong about that?’

“That sounds like the definition of dating in secret to me,” Craig finally said, and Lucien was visibly flustered at this accusation.

“We’re… we’re not!” he replied, “Although… I guess they are kind of cute…”

Damien shakes his head. “Lucien.”

“Okay, okay, sorry dad.”

“If you are going into courtship with a lady, it would be respectful to first consult with their family,” Damien begins, with Craig nodding his head in approval – “And you haven’t done that, so Mr. Cahn here have a good reason to be angry at you. I’ve taught you about this gentleman conduct since you were young–”

“We’re not dating, dad!”

Damien nods, “Explain yourself, then.”

“We just…” He looks at Damien uneasily, “Meet to talk about… K–pop.”

“K-pop?” Damien seems confused, “Enlighten me on what it is, dear.”

“It’s… Korean music,” Lucien explains, looking a little embarrassed for some reason. “We both like the same girl group… so we just meet to talk about them… or show each other pictures we found…”

He nervously looks at Craig – well of course, Craig could snap him in half if he wants to.

“I deeply apologize for this,” he said as he bows down – just like Damien does sometimes. “I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again–”

“I mean…” Craig sighs, “It’s okay. I just wish you guys would tell me if you’re hanging out…”

“That too, is polite and gentlemanly conduct, Lucien,” Damien said. “I apologize if my son Lucien has caused you trouble and unease.”

“No, it’s okay, uh…” Craig scratches his head, “Sorry that I was rude earlier as well.”

“I understand,” Damien said with a smile, “I would worry too, if it were my child.”

“Yeah, uhh…” Craig looks at me, “I guess we should… leave?”

I just nod.

 

“Man, I feel bad now.”

“It’s okay, man,” I reply, patting his back. “We’re just trying to keep our kids out of trouble.”

“But I feel bad for lashing out at Damien… and he was such a gentleman about it...”

“I’m sure he gets it too, man,” I try to console him, “We’re all just watching out for our kids and trying our best.”

"I just want the best for them, bro," he sighs, "I probably didn't make the best decisions when I was in high school or college, and I'm trying to prevent that..."

"We can only do so much for them, bro," I say, "Let kids be kids. You only grew up into a proper adult after you graduated, and I'm sure they will too, at some point."

Craig finally smiles and nods in agreement.

 

We arrive at my house, and I open the door. Briar and Hazel are still sitting inside, now watching TV, barely paying any attention to us.

“Hey.”

They all quickly turn to look as Craig calls them. Craig just smiles gently as he walked over to them with open arms, and hugged them, one in each arm.

“Sorry I was angry at you guys, okay?”

They’re both silent, just kind of looking at Craig.

“I didn’t mean to make you sad that you didn’t get in the class, okay?” he tried to explain, “I just thought you shouldn’t put so much time into lacrosse since it won’t do anything for you at the end.”

Hazel nods.

“Sorry, dad.”

“From now on, once you’re done with lacrosse, just come straight home, okay?” he asks, “I know it doesn’t go until dinnertime. If you wanna hang out with Lucien, we can do it on another day.”

Hazel nods.

“...wait.”

She looks back up at him, her face now blushing brightly. She turns to look at me angrily.

“How… how do you know, dad?”

“Oh, you know…” Craig shrugs with a smug smile on his face, “I was chilling in the bushes behind the house, you know, and kind of caught that…”

“Daaaadd!!”


End file.
